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This week on hbook.com…
Announcing Fanfare 2016 — our choices for the best books of the year!
"What Makes a Good Picture Book?" newsletter
Our new "Making a Difference" landing page, featuring resources on activism and social … [Read More...]

Since its debut in 2011, The Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott blog has been a destination for picture-book lovers eager to discuss favorite books in the months leading up to ALA annual — and to make their best guesses about what will win Caldecott gold. … [Read More...]

Lisa Yee and I for more than a decade had a friendship that was entirely virtual, but we met briefly for real last year at the Eric Carle gala. Now she's moved to vaguely in our neck of the woods, and the other day we went to the MFA for lunch. We … [Read More...]

On Tuesday, December 6th, I was lucky to be the plus-one, with amazing school librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro, at the sixteenth annual Massachusetts Book Awards ceremony at the State House, in recognition of "significant works of fiction, nonfiction, … [Read More...]

Yuyi Morales first appeared on my radar in Spring 2012. Running late for a baby shower, I had popped into our local bookstore to purchase a gift. As I walked past the "New Picture Books" table, Georgia in Hawaii caught my eye. Twenty seconds later, I … [Read More...]

Blogs

Lisa Yee and I for more than a decade had a friendship that was entirely virtual, but we met briefly for real last year at the Eric Carle gala. Now she's moved to vaguely in our neck of the woods, and the other day we went to the MFA for lunch. We … [Read More...]

On Tuesday, December 6th, I was lucky to be the plus-one, with amazing school librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro, at the sixteenth annual Massachusetts Book Awards ceremony at the State House, in recognition of "significant works of fiction, nonfiction, … [Read More...]

On Wednesday night, November 30, we held our last children's lit class of the semester. We read Charlotte's Web and had a good discussion about unlikely friendships, death in children's books, and the benefits of reading aloud.
Then we got to the … [Read More...]

Yuyi Morales first appeared on my radar in Spring 2012. Running late for a baby shower, I had popped into our local bookstore to purchase a gift. As I walked past the "New Picture Books" table, Georgia in Hawaii caught my eye. Twenty seconds later, I … [Read More...]

Review of the Week

Crow Smarts: Inside the Brain of the World’s Brightest Bird [Scientists in the Field]
by Pamela S. Turner; photos by Andy Comins; with art by Guido De Filippo
Intermediate, Middle School Houghton 73 pp.
8/16 978-0-544-41619-2 $18.99
Turner’s latest Scientists in the Field entry returns to the fascinating topic she explored in The Dolphins of Shark Bay (rev. 1/14): the behaviors of highly intelligent nonhuman animals that use tools. This time, the focus is on the super-smart New … [Read More...]

App Review of the Week

Released in honor of his ninetieth birthday, Sir David Attenborough's Story of Life (BBC Worldwide, November 2016; iOS and Android) spans his six-decade career as a naturalist and and the voice of the BBC's wildlife programming. The app — which is, incredibly, free — contains over one thousand video clips from more than forty BBC wildlife documentaries Attenborough has written, produced, and narrated. But you certainly don't have to be a die-hard Attenborough fan, or even know who he is, to … [Read More...]

Talking About Race

Recommended Books

Coy, John Game Changer: John McLendon and the Secret Game
Gr. K–3 32 pp. Carolrhoda
Illustrated by Randy DuBurke. Coy tells the dramatic story of an illegal, secret basketball game in Jim … [Read More...]

Barnett, Mac How This Book Was Made: Based on a True Story
Gr. K–3 48 pp. Disney/Hyperion
Illustrated by Adam Rex. Barnett and Rex tongue-in-cheekily describe the process of creating a … [Read More...]

Becker, Aaron Return
Gr. K–3 40 pp. Candlewick
This third wordless installment (Journey; Quest) brings the story full circle. The father of the lonely girl with a red crayon follows her … [Read More...]

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards

For fifty years, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards have been recognizing the very best in children's books. Last Friday, we celebrated 2016's winning books with the honorees, judges, and fellow … [Read More...]

This year's BGHB/HBAS weekend, as they typically do, began with boxes. Carts full of boxes, which were full of bags, which we stuffed full of posters, Post-its, and other goodies. It was all very well … [Read More...]

We had a fantastic time at the emotional Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards ceremony on Friday, September 30th and the thought-provoking Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium: "Out of the Box" on Saturday, … [Read More...]

Interviews

Since its debut in 2011, The Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott blog has been a destination for picture-book lovers eager to discuss favorite books in the months leading up to ALA annual — and to make … [Read More...]

Talks with Roger is a sponsored supplement to our free monthly e-newsletter, Notes from the Horn Book. To receive Notes, sign up here.
Sponsored by
For the education-minded among you, let me … [Read More...]

I first became aware of Deborah Ahenkorah a few years ago when I was prospecting the internet for groups working to address diversity issues in children’s publishing. Ahenkorah is the cofounder and … [Read More...]